Hogwarts: This holy light is righteously evil

Chapter 107 The Chamber of Secrets of Lestrange

"So this is?" Puni frowned.

"Oh ho ho, this is the treasure trove I left for my descendants, but now you're the only child left in the family," Lestrange laughed.

"A treasure vault?" Puni raised an eyebrow.

Dumbledore also came over: "Before your elders passed away, they told me about this place. This is Lestrange's treasure vault, and it has nothing to do with Black. They wouldn't covet the treasures here."

"Go on, everything's behind the door," Lestrange said.

A door opened.

Dumbledore and Penny stepped into the room where the items were stored. As soon as they stood at the door, they both froze on the spot, staring in disbelief at the scene before them.

This was an exceptionally large room, as spacious as the Great Hall of Hogwarts, but it was chaotic and disorganized, with all sorts of items piled up haphazardly, almost filling the entire room.

The densely packed books, yellowed scrolls, and various unknown magical objects were piled up into towering hills, each one teetering on the verge of collapse, as if a gentle touch would cause them to bury the two of them.

Several exquisitely carved wooden boxes were carelessly discarded in a corner. Some of the lids were open, revealing the odds and ends inside, while others were tightly closed, their surfaces covered with a thick layer of dust, clearly having been forgotten for a long time.

At the innermost part of the room, several strangely shaped suits of armor stood silently, their surfaces rusted and their helmets askew, as if silently telling the story of the vicissitudes of time, exuding a somewhat eerie aura.

On a table not far away, a bundle of wands of varying lengths was carelessly tossed into a worn-out top hat. The wand cores at the tips of the wands shimmered faintly, yet they were treated so casually, as if they were not magical artifacts but merely a pile of ordinary wooden sticks, utterly worthless.

Dumbledore's gaze was instantly drawn to the mountains of books. He slowly walked forward, his eyes filled with appreciation and regret, and his eyes trembled slightly involuntarily.

He had a lifelong passion for books, especially ancient magical texts. He had never seen anyone store books so carelessly. Such a disorderly and uncaring way of storing books was truly rare.

Unlike Dumbledore, Penny's attention remained focused on the carelessly discarded wooden crates throughout.

These wooden boxes are exquisitely crafted, with neatly carved gear-shaped decorations on the surface. Tiny magic crystals are inlaid on the gears, shimmering with a faint light. Even covered in dust, their exquisite craftsmanship cannot be concealed, and they look very valuable at first glance.

Puni secretly hoped that these exquisite wooden boxes might contain precious magical treasures or lost magical artifacts.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his anticipation, grasped the lid of one of the wooden crates with both hands, and slowly pushed open the heavy lid with a little force.

The lid rubbed against the box, making a heavy sound. As the lid slowly opened, Puni's self-glow eagerly swept over the items inside. But when he saw what was inside, the anticipation on his face vanished instantly, replaced by deep disappointment.

The box contained neither the precious treasures he had expected nor any mysterious magical items; only a few pieces of clothing piled haphazardly together, wrinkled and covered in dust.

Most of these clothes are very ordinary, with rough fabrics. Only the top two pieces are relatively well-made, decorated with simple patterns, and look a little more luxurious. The rest are old styles from over a hundred years ago, with outdated designs and colors that have become dull and lost their original luster due to the erosion of time.

Puni shook his head helplessly, thinking to himself that these clothes were probably only worth buying by theater troupes that needed vintage costumes; they had no other use.

Undeterred, he went to several other wooden crates and opened the lids one by one to check them, but the results were still disappointing.

These boxes were filled with all sorts of useless junk: tattered books with torn covers and blurry writing, yellowed and fragile papers, rusty and unusable metal tools, and even several bottles of poorly sealed, illegible potions. The dates on the bottles indicated that these potions had expired a full hundred years ago, had long lost their original magical power, and might even be poisonous.

Puni stood there, pursing his lips.

Is this what they call Lestrange's treasure vault?

What kind of trash are they?

He had originally had high hopes for this secret storage room.

This place doesn't resemble a meticulously maintained collection room at all; rather, it's more like a forgotten storage room or an abandoned room filled with useless trash, with nothing worth taking away.

Dumbledore snapped out of his reverie about the mountain of books, but he had managed to collect a few old notebooks that were still of some value. Although he looked regretful, he wasn't too disappointed.

"No wonder the Black family isn't interested in this place," Puni shook his head.

The two walked out of the storage room side by side. As soon as they returned to the rotunda, they saw Lestrange in the portrait chatting with Professor Percival, occasionally letting out a hearty laugh.

Lestrange's gaze quickly fell on the few pieces of clothing Penny was carrying. He raised an eyebrow, his brow twitching involuntarily, and said, "Penny, you have quite the taste. Out of so many things, you picked these few that are the most useless. These clothes, apart from looking a little nicer, have no magical power or special meaning. They're just decorations."

Hearing this, Puni immediately became displeased, frowning as he retorted, "What do you mean by 'most useless'? I just think these few pieces of clothing are slightly newer than the others. Look at the rest of yours, they're all antiques from over a hundred years ago, incredibly outdated. You don't really think anyone would wear those clothes out in public now, do you?"

Lestrange waved his hand dismissively, saying casually, "Think what you want. Anyway, these things will be yours eventually. Besides, these clothes don't have any magical system enhancements; they're just trash. I didn't expect you to find any treasures in them."

After speaking, Lestrange turned his gaze to Dumbledore, the teasing on his face fading and becoming more peaceful: "Professor Dumbledore, this secret chamber is hidden beneath Hogwarts Castle, without any restrictions. You can come here anytime in the future."

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore nodded gently, a warm smile on his face.

Puni followed Dumbledore and slowly walked up the spiral staircase.

The staircase is winding and full of the marks of time; the handrail is cold, and it creaks slightly with every step.

When the two finally reached the top of the stairs and pushed open the stone door to the exit, they discovered that this was actually the lowest level of Hogwarts Castle, dark and damp, with a faint musty smell in the air. Going up one more level would lead to the castle's dungeon area.

The two passed through the dungeon and walked along the corridor, avoiding patrolling guards and passing students. After walking for about fifteen minutes, a huge stone dragon statue stood prominently at the end of the corridor.

The dragon statue is exquisitely carved, with each scale clearly visible and distinct in texture. The dragon is in a crouching position with its eyes closed, as if it is fast asleep, yet it exudes an aura of majesty, as if it might awaken at any moment, open its massive mouth, and unleash a deafening roar.

On the base of the dragon statue, Hogwarts' famous motto is inscribed in ancient script.

Do not disturb the sleeping dragon...

Dumbledore stopped and looked at the statue and the school motto. He said calmly and solemnly, "The origin of this motto has been lost to time, but the message it conveys has remained unchanged. It reminds us that no matter what we face, whether it seems powerful or weak, we must maintain a sense of awe and not wantonly desecrate it."

Puni nodded and said, "A sense of awe, I'll remember that, Professor."

Dumbledore's gaze inadvertently fell on the several garments Penny was carrying: four wizard robes of different colors, made of smooth fabric and embroidered with exquisite patterns in gold and silver thread, making them look very luxurious.

Dumbledore examined them carefully and commented objectively, "These robes do look magnificent and eye-catching, but as your elder Lestrange said, they don't have any special magical power. They just have a few everyday spells attached, such as for warmth and stain protection. Other than that, they have no other use."

Upon hearing Dumbledore's assessment of the robes, Penny shook his head. Holding the four robes in his hands, he leaned close to Dumbledore and said earnestly, "Professor, you're wrong. These robes aren't just fancy-looking with some kind of self-cleaning magic; they can automatically adjust to the wearer's size. And look closely, don't the patterns on these four robes seem strangely familiar?"

As he spoke, Puni unfolded the four robes one by one and laid them flat on the stone platform next to him, so that Dumbledore could observe them.

From his perspective, among the clothes in the storage room, only these four robes always emitted a faint magical glow, a soft and pure light that was completely different from the weak or even dissipated magical aura on the other miscellaneous items.

Puni secretly judged that these robes probably existed even longer than Lestrange's, and were by no means ordinary vintage clothing, but rather objects that truly contained ancient magic.

As for the remaining items in the box, Puni had long forgotten about them.

Those worn-out metal tools, yellowed papers, and expired potions, after a century of erosion, are fortunate to have survived relatively intact and not completely decayed into ashes. They have no value whatsoever and cannot compare to the four robes in my hand.

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore's smile faded slightly. He reached out and gently touched the edge of the robe, carefully stroking the gold and silver patterns on it, feeling the magical power contained within the garment.

After a moment, he slowly spoke, with a hint of approval: "This fabric is woven from precious animal hair. It has a delicate texture and can preserve magical energy for a long time. It is indeed a fine item. Moreover, look at these patterns, which correspond to the four houses of Hogwarts. It must have been a magical item left behind by a headmaster back then."

""

He looked at Puni again, his gentle smile returning to his face: "It seems you've truly found something good this time. Compared to the notes and books I found—those are too profound for your age and not useful for now—these robes are particularly suitable for you."

Puni's eyes lit up; he knew his chance had come. He quickly held the robes in both hands, tilted his head slightly, and put on a docile and adorable expression as he pleaded with Dumbledore, "Professor, I have a small request. Could you please cast another spell on these robes for me?"

Dumbledore couldn't help but laugh at his appearance.

He shook his head helplessly, thinking to himself that he could only accept the little wizard's "minor coercion" at this moment, after all, he had just praised the robe he found.

"Tell me, what kind of magic do you want to cast?" Dumbledore asked calmly, his smile fading, though he was secretly calculating in his mind that if Penny's request was too unreasonable, such as casting a powerful protective curse or an offensive spell, he would find a reasonable reason to refuse. After all, some magic was not something a first-year wizard should be exposed to or use.

Puni smiled and said, "It's not complicated at all. I just want you to add a spell that allows me to freely enter and exit the academy's common room. You see, I'm just a first-year wizard. I'm still young. Sometimes I accidentally miss the closing time of the common room and get locked out. Now that the weather is so cold, standing outside in the cold wind will definitely cause me to catch a cold and get a fever, which will definitely delay my classes and studies. That would be such a waste."

He spoke with such sincerity, as if he were genuinely just worried about catching a cold while locked out, without revealing his true feelings at all.

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise on his face. He never expected Puni's request to be so simple.

He had originally thought that Puni would ask for protective spells, since wizard robes could cover most of the body, and casting spells on them to resist attacks and defend against evil curses was the best choice and the most practical approach for most wizards.

"Is it that simple?" Dumbledore asked again, confirming.

Puni nodded quickly, a perfectly timed smile on his face, and followed up on Dumbledore's words, adding, "If it's convenient for you, Professor, could you also add the access spells to the common rooms of the other three houses? After all, sometimes I might want to visit friends in other houses, and it would be troublesome if I were locked out."

He was secretly delighted. Since Dumbledore had asked him, he would be doing himself a disservice if he didn't try to get some benefits out of him.

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore's smile froze instantly, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

If he had a time converter, he would go back to what he just said and take back his unnecessary words.

After a moment of silence, Dumbledore shrugged helplessly and ultimately did not refuse.

After all, Lestrange had already left all the treasures in the secret chamber to Puni. For Lestrange's sake, and also because the child was indeed clever and adorable, he didn't need to make too much of a fuss about this small request.

"Okay, this is a small matter, it will be done quickly."

"thank you."

In accordance with Hogwarts tradition, the second game of the year’s Quidditch League is about to begin.

Sunlight streamed through the clouds onto the expansive Quidditch pitch, adding a touch of warmth to the highly anticipated match.

The two teams facing off this time are Slytherin and Gryffindor.

The rivalry between these two teams has a long history, and their annual Quidditch match is always the focus of attention, with the tension both on and off the field being more intense than in any other game.

Both teams' players had arrived at the court well in advance, wearing their respective college-colored team uniforms, warming up on the sidelines, their eyes filled with fighting spirit, and when they looked at each other, they all had an undisguised competitive intent.

The reason why the match between these two teams is so captivating is not only because of their long-standing rivalry, but more importantly, because Quidditch scores are directly linked to the total points of the College Cup.

Every Quidditch match, every goal scored, directly impacts the rankings of each college and determines who wins the College Cup at the end of the year.

This is why every young wizard at Hogwarts takes Quidditch matches very seriously. Even students who are not usually interested in sports will arrive on time to cheer for their house.

Today, even first-year students who have just entered the school have already developed a strong sense of collective honor for the college.

Dressed in the same colors as their houses, their faces beaming with excitement and anticipation, they were all burning with determination, hoping their houses would achieve great results in Quidditch, accumulating points step by step, and ultimately lifting the House Cup, the symbol of the highest honor.

The stands surrounding the stadium were already filled with students from various colleges, cheers and shouts rising and falling, igniting the atmosphere of the competition in advance.

Puni also sat on the high stands, surrounded by classmates who had come to watch the game.

The referee has raised his wand, signaling both teams to be ready and the match could begin at any moment.

To Puni's left sat Marcos and his two companions, who could no longer contain their excitement. They sat ramrod straight, their eyes fixed on the arena, shouting Gryffindor slogans incessantly in loud voices. Every now and then, they would cheer for a teammate's warm-up exercise, their emotions too intense to contain.

Cho Chang, who sat to his right, was usually gentle and quiet, but he was like a different person once he was at the Quidditch match.

She put her hands to her mouth, making a megaphone shape, and shouted loudly for the Gryffindor team, her voice even louder than Marcos and Eddie's, her eyes fixed on the Gryffindor players.